The Coffee's Bitter, but We've No Sugar
by Shmarah
Summary: Things are being stolen by and invisible thief left and right, and Celeste has nothing but an insane human best friend, a mysterious note, and the return of love for a pigeon she's only knows how to hate. Oh, what she would do for a cup of coffee! ACWW
1. Can Owls Die of Stairs?

Hello friends, fanfiction, and furry things.

A few things have happened to me since I started this fic long, long ago. I entered 7th grade, I got olllllld[er,] I got [hopefully?] better at writing, I discovered Touhou, I became more otaku-y, I fell in love with my friends, I found a friend I'll never forget, I started liking coffee, I wrote and finished some fanfictions, I entered... what, three, four essay contests? I still haven't won any of them, I've gotten a better understanding of the world, I've played Animal Crossing less, I've lost someone dear to me, I've started reading The Book Thief, I've fallen in love with my best friend.

A lot's happened. And this fanfiction, my first fanfiction, my seemingly most popular fanfiction... Deserves some revamping. And no, that doesn't involve vampires. Unless it's Remilia Scarlet.

* * *

"I beg your pardon! I was just resting my eyes. I was NOT napping! No, indeed!"

"Yes, yes you were."

"Naaah."

"Yah!

"Nah!"

"Yah!"

"Nuh-uh."

"Yuh-huh!"

"No no no!"

"Yes yes yes."

"NO!"

"YES!"

"NO!"

"YES!"

"NO!"

"CELESTE!"

"WHAT?"

"You're cute."

"Hootie-TOOT! You're teasing me again, aren't you?" Celeste's expression turned sour. "Why don't you just take a peek through the telescope!"

Sarah groaned. "Why don't you try sleeping at night, Celeste? The rest of the town is asleep then anyway." Her self-assurance shone less like a light and more like neon pink glow-stick.

The little red owl's face wilted with fatigue and embarrassment. She was an astrophysicist, a cosmologist, an _astronomer!_ Even more capable than even her older brother Blathers, the curator of the museum from where she resided, the second floor, her second floor, was devoted solely to the art that was space. With her telescope and her sharp owl eye for constellations, Celeste was a regular genius, her vast astronomical intellect greatly admirable and more than respectable…

Now then, if only there were ever people around to respect or admire such greatness.

If only there were ever people around.

"My brother may sleep on the job but I do not! I do…" A yawn broke through her strict face, and Sarah grinned. "…n-not…!"

A sweat drop and a face palm, Celeste sighed. "Oh, don't you look at me like that! Look, okay, I do occasionally…"

"Occasionally?"

Another sweat drop, another face palm, another sigh. "Okay, I often fall asleep. What do I do? I'm an owl, in case you haven't realized, hootie-toot!" Her wings crossed with irritation, Celeste still felt as though she failed to comprehend stupid humans. Why couldn't she be like the rest of those in town, ignoring her if they came up to see the stars at all?

Then again, it was nice to talk to someone other than her rambler of a brother, even if the rambling of a human (and one whom she… considered her actual 'friend,') was hardly any consolation.

Aforementioned human shook her head, mock disappointment on her face. Sarah never seemed to be genuinely unhappy, anyhow. "You could try some coffee. You have a freaking coffee shop in your basement, for crying out loud! Why not use it? Brewster would never charge you of all people."

At the name, Celeste froze.

How could she… suggest such a thing?

Then… how could she know in the first place?

She didn't. She didn't know anything, and nothing hurt more than wanting to tell a friend something you can't even admit to yourself.

However, the pigtailed brunette's face still prodded for a response. Preferably one that sounded like, "You're always right!"

"Look, I-I can't leave… What if someone comes? And has… a question!"

Her turn for a face-palm. "Nobody comes here but me, especially in the morning? You want me to buy you a cup? I can't stand to see you toppling over every five minutes."

"No, no, don't go to the trouble!" blurted out of her beak, and she'd later regret it. She'd later… question why she'd let herself say such a thing. "You just…. Stay here, hoot? Stay." Attempting at a stern voice, Celeste knew from one look at Sarah's eyes that even a short argument would be an utter waste of time and effort; the girl seemed to sponge both up. It was either this, or simple fate that made her descend those first set of steps…

Sarah, either because Celeste's stern demand didn't reach her human ears or because it did, followed, of course. The only human in all of Luropo wondered, not for the first time that day or even that hour, why some animals had such poor social skills.

This was true, as Celeste sometimes considered even herself a mild hikikomori, but in many ways, she hoped Sarah didn't know. Rather, she wished she did but hoped she'd never have to tell her. There were reasons for her discomfort, for her seclusion, for her awkwardness.

The first of these reasons, (as well as the last):

The pigeon.

She could have ducked into the gallery, counted to 100, and returned. She could have marched back up the stairs and told Sarah how silly this was. She could have just gotten herself a cup of coffee instead of making such a stupid, big deal of it, but these didn't even come to mind as she, passing her dozing older sibling, paused at the sign by the stairwell.

Something made her want to go, the same thing that she craved and yet was repelled by, from all those years before. Like staring at a candle flame to the point where it burns itself purple into your retinas, until all you want to do is touch it, even though it will burn… Rather, _because_ it will burn.

A reason:

The pigeon.

"The Roost."

The name itself sent her stomach aflutter, and she realized she was hardly fatigued with this adrenaline rush.

_You go downstairs for coffee and you get an adrenaline rush. Someone needs to lighten up._

Her thoughts kicked backwards out of sight, she took a single step onto the red velvet. When her talons reached solid ground and she opened her eyes to see that she wasn't dead, she was very pleased wither herself. Smiling, her fear kicked backwards to sit tight with her pessimistic (and, also now, realistic,) concerns and started to march on confidently.

A keyword:

"Started."

A thought from Sarah, observing the scene:

'A little _too_ confidently there, dear.'

Which may amount to the fact she forgot there were _stairs _there. The girl quietly groaned with annoyance, watching as the puny, magenta wad of feathers plop-plop-plopped into a dark, abyss.

Brewster thought it was Sarah, as she was a regular; she liked a cup after visiting with the owl girl. His owl girl.

Sort of.

A reminiscent smile upon his face, the grey-green pigeon immediately found a grin upon his face when he saw that gigantic, pink bow again. He preferred it in black, sure, but he knew who it belonged to. His little night sparrow…

Somersaulting down the stairs with a few owl-y screeches and landing face flat on his coffee shop floor.

He didn't bother getting out of his station. He picked up his rag, his cup, scooted up his glasses…

As beautiful as she was to finally see after all this time, it hurt.

A simile or two:

Like staring at a candle after having closed your eyes.

Or like closing your eyes after having stared at a candle.

* * *

Thanks guys... New old chapters, coming right up~

Sorta.

Downloading Touhou games. What else to do? XD

-Aznheart


	2. I Have Started With You

I Have Started With You

Disclaimer: If I owned Animal Crossing, this would be a book, not a fanfiction. A bad book, probably. And Animal Crossing would be the worst video game in history. :P

I don't know how long this will go on, tho. Oh well...

It was all.... blurry.

Then, she realized! She saw the light, it was her time... Go into the light! Into the...

Wait a sec, that was a florescent light bulb. So who was that beautiful angel looking down at her? Oh... Whoops. That was him, that er... pigeon. She once read in a book that pigeons were considered vermin, dirty creatures that stole food and got tangled up in people's hair. How could she ever think he was an angel, that flying rat? She then decided she should speak up, before _he_ ran to tell Blathers she clumsily fell down those stupid stairs.

"Thanks for helping me up." she mumbled sarcastically, too quiet for him to hear. She tried to get back on her talons, but as her wings touched the floor she screeched in pain. ~_Oh great, the least I need is the pigeon feeling sorry for me.~_

Unfortunately, that was exactly what "the pigeon" did. He was about to hop over the barrier and come towards her when she fluttered back up on her own. The pigeon smiled coyly, as the owl looked at him with big eyes. She was obviously quite panicked. After an awkward silence, she finally found her toungue and yelled,

"I'm fine! REALLY! THANK YOU!" And the now brighter-shaded owl fluttered awkwardly up the stairs, hiding her pain. She continued to look behind her shoulder to make sure he wasn't following, which was why she bumped right into Sarah as she reached the top.

"_Well?! _Did you get some coffee?!" she demanded.

"I told you to stay in the observatory! What if someone got in there?!" Celeste yelled.

"Nobody came through the doors, I watched! You don't trust me?!" They forgot to keep her voice down as they argued back and forth. However, they abruptly stopped when they heard the all too familiar sound...

"ZZZZZAAAAWK!" Both girls turned there heads slowly_. ~Ohhh no...~ _.

"Oh!" he said. "Wot! Dreadful sorry, I... Hmm... Oh! Wot! Celeste! Sarah! What are you doing standing so close to the stairs like that? That, wot, proves quite a dangerous ha..."

"SORRY! WE.. uh... Left the... er... stove on! Be right... back!" Sarah interrupted. They dashed up the stairs as Celeste whispered angrily, "I don't _have _a stove upstairs, all I've got is that telescope and...!" Sarah screamed.

"Umm... Celeste? No... you don't!" Sarah had reached the top. Celeste was quick to catch up, and when she did, she gasped. Where their beloved telescope once stood lay a note in its place. A mysterious note.

_Don't be fooled by patterns, little red owl._

_Smirking fowl bird, hiding its past, has nothing but his life to take._

_Con-master will be conned, a sneaky orange fox. _

_Racoon, fat and brown, I am the better bandit._

_Artsy, smart brown owl, be finally outsmarted._

_Blue and brown hedgehogs, too kind to resist._

_Bulldog so drowsy, I take advantage of you._

_I have started with you, little red owl._

After putting the note back down, Sarah looked back at Celeste.

"Ohhhhhhh man."


	3. Red as Beetle Juice

Well, some ppl pointed out that Brewster isn't 16. I won't name anyone, COUGH PATRICK COUGH, but he was 16 in the flashback. In this story, both Celeste and Brewster are like, idk, 20? Yes. Lets make Brewster 21, Celeste 20. There. Happy, Pat?

* * *

...

...

"BLATHERS!" Celeste screeched out a high pitched, well, screech. Sarah sighed.

"One, two, three..."

Blathers shot up the stairway and was standing in front of them in less than five seconds. Sarah half smiled. "New record."

"WOT! Wot's, I mean, what's wrong?" demanded Blathers. Celeste looked at him with shocked disbelief.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS? LOOK! DOESN'T SOMETHING LOOK KIND OF MISSING, MAYBE A LITTLE EMPTY?!" Celeste pointed a wing at the place where their huge beloved telescope once stood. Blathers stared at it for a moment, and then bursted out,

"WOT! OH! Why didn't I see this before?! The star chart I bought you is completely empty! No wonder it was so cheap... but I still payed money for it! Wot! How dare that despicable fox... Redd was it... Hm..."

"NO BLATHERS! SOMEONE TOOK THE TELESCOPE!" The little red owl was much much redder now, and she was already red enough from her run in with Brewster. Why she looked kind of like Betelgeuse, all red and in a room filled with starry books and pictures, and that peculiar music that seemed to be coming from nowhere, as no radios were in sight, so... Oh what was she doing dozing off into her thoughts again? Sarah groaned and pushed Celeste (who was about to explode) away from Blathers and started to yell,

"We HAVE to find that TELESCOPE! Or the world will never see all the beautiful constellations I made, like The Big Cheese, and the Rotting Milky Way, and Onion the Smelly Hunter, and... well... Ya! We're going to get that telescope back or my name isn't..."

"ARF ARF ARF! Grrrrr...."

"Wha... wha..."

"RARARRRRRRR!"

What sounded like a wolf and maybe a moose stuck in a blender echoed through the entire town of Luropo. Celeste, Blathers, and Sarah (who was in detective mode) were very quick to investigate.

And what they didn't know, was that Brewster was too.

* * *

Was that a short enough chapter for you? :)


	4. Where Else Can I Get Hamburger Paper?

Whoaaa. Two chapters in technically one day. Cuz the one right b4 this one was like, published at 12:00AM. Haha. I guess I got really no sleep today... Oh well.

* * *

Two owls and one human burst through the entryway of the town gates, in the northwest of Luropo. Lying on the stones was Copper, looking tired, but not extremely hurt.

"Copper!" Celeste ran over to the weak looking dog, who looked at her embarrassed.

"Wot! Perhaps we should send for an ambulance?" asked Blathers.

"No, no! I am in pristine condition, there is no need for concern!" Copper was quick to get back onto his paws, but his pain was evident in his quiet whimpering.

"Copper! Copper, you're hurt! Who did this to you?" Celeste's mother bird instincts kicked in and she helped Copper back to his regular post and gave him his staff, which he leaned on for support.

"Listen well, little lady. There was a flash of amber, and it knocked my staff down. The safety of our town is the utmost priority, and I hope that this will expedite proper investigation of this terrible thief! In fact, it is necessary!" Celeste looked at the shaken up dog with a confused face.

Sarah, who was feeling more like Sherlock Holmes every minute, butted in. "Thief, huh? Hm... What did he steal!?"

"The real victim here is Booker, Sarah." stated Copper. They had been too busy caring for Copper that they didn't notice that Booker was standing right behind them. He almost scared them when he said,

"I'm so sorry! So sorry! I just need to be more careful..." Whined the drowsy looking bulldog. Sarah once again stepped in.

"That reminds me! This may not be the best time, but I kind of need some hamburger paper to mail my mom and... wait! No! What I meant was I... I _lost_ some hamburger paper, and I was wondering if you have any in the lost and found for me to take... I MEAN... reclaim?" smiled Sarah. Celeste looked at her angrily.

"There's just been a robbery and all you're interested is in the freebies in the lost and found?!" demanded Celeste. Sarah was about to respond indignantly when Booker interrupted.

"I, uh, don't think this might be any interest to you, but uh, in the lost and found... Well, we currently have no items." Sarah looked at him in shock.

"WHAT?! THEN WHERE WILL I GET ALL MY FREE PITFALL SEEDS AND PACKS OF PAPER?!" Celeste elbowed her hard and asked, gently,

"Booker, didn't the lost and found have 10 items the other day? Where did they all go?" Booker looked quite depressed, more than usual.

"Well, yes. I mean, we definitely had 10 yesterday... I think. But well, what happened was, um... Let me just explain......"

-o-o-o-

Meanwhile, Brewster had heard 6 feet pitter pattering through the museum lobby and out the door. Four of which were owl feet.

Two of which belonged to Celeste.

Yes, he knew it was kind of creepy, but since Celeste and Blathers always walked on the floors above him, he'd grown to know who's footsteps were who's. He also knew Sarah's, so that when her red shoes were stomp stomp stomping down the stairs, he'd have her favorite blend poured before she even got on the stool. Therefore, when he heard all 6 feet of the museums common inhabitants suddenly taking off, he couldn't help but be curious. Plus there was the fact that he too had heard a dog fight erupting from the north, and so he was off to investigate, even if he hadn't gone outside since the day Celeste was at an astronomy convention and Blathers was sick with Avian Influenza, and he had to buy medicine. In fact, he hadn't even eaten anything but coffee and the peaches that Sarah had brought him every now and then.

When his talons touched the grass for the first time in a long time, he almost laughed at how that scared him. He used to be the street smart pigeon that could handle the hustle and bustle of city life, and now he's scared to walk on real grass for once? Afraid to walk around and see the trees? Blinded by sunlight and stunned by the beauty of simple dandelions? He stood in front of the museum for a while, letting his eyes adjust to the bright light that wasn't coming from a dim lightbulb.

Why was he out here anyways?

Because he wanted to figure out what had made those noises? No, he had to be honest with himself, he'd learned that.

He was standing on the grass right then and there because he was worried about Celeste. He was worried that she had gone toward the sounds that sounded like a raging fight. He was scared for his little girl.

He didn't like that.

No, he didn't like those thoughts, because he knew it was a senseless waste of time. He knew that it only resulted in pain. It ruins what could've been a great friendship. It.

He pushed the thoughts behind, forgot he had ever thought them, and went back to lying to himself. He knew he was lying to himself. But if he lied to himself about lying to himself, he wouldn't know that, would he?

He was standing outside not because of Celeste.

Because he wanted to...

Buy a new chair. Yes. He wanted to buy a new chair at Nook's place.

So why were his feet walking toward the town gate?

* * *

OMG! I JUST WROTE 998 WORDS! EXCEPT NOW IT'S 1,011!


	5. FYI, Equidae is the Horse Family

Like, ttly OMG! (Starting to sound like a girly girl here... *shudder*) I CAN'T BELIEVE I WROTE THAT! B/C NOW I HAVE SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFF IN MIND, BUT I CAN'T CHANGE IT, CAN I?! Oh well. Ma bad.

* * *

"I didn't really... Well I saw this flash... And I don't think it will be of any interest to you but it was yellowish... I think. And then... I think... Copper came and, uh, jumped in between the... I mean, the yellow thing. And me. And he uh, saved my life..." Teardrops started to leak out of the drowsy bulldog's eyes, onto the big purple bags that were under his eyes from staying awake all night, and down his furry face as Booker explained the entire ordeal to Celeste and Sarah. Blathers was too busy playing with Booker's staff to bother.

"Awww... There, there Booker." cooed Celeste as Sarah looked on rolling her eyes. She hated it when Celeste went into mother bird mode. Frankly, she thought it was annoying because she never WAS going to become an actual mother bird, was she? Not cooped up in that rut of an astronomy attic. Sometimes she wished that her best friend could just, who knows, take a few steps downstairs and do something with her life. Then again, she did spend a good half of her life asleep. And the other half was spent awake in the dark... Strangely poetic... Her thoughts were interrupted when Booker blew his nose on a handkerchief from Celeste (ugh.) and continued his tale of woe.

"Well you see, I mean... The, uh, flash knocked Copper to the ground and I... uh... I mean I ran over to help him. And then I went... I mean... I saw the flash run by the lost and found box and uh... We definitely had 10 yesterday, I think, but then I ran over and... I think you might already know this but uh... now there's none and then you came in and uh... ya... That was definitely what happened. I think." Booker slumped down exhausted from all of his hard work thinking.

"Well that was interesting!" exclaimed Sarah, half sarcastic. She grabbed a notebook out of her pocket and a pencil out of her ear (as Celeste wondered where the heck they, and the complete Sherlock Holmes outfit she was wearing, came from) and wrote down the following notes:

_** The culprit is yellow and speedy. **_

_**Enjoys stealing pitfall seeds and hamburger paper.**_

"Sarah, you have no clue if the culprit actually enjoys stealing that stuff!" scolded Celeste.

"Well, it's elementary dear Watson. I guess. I enjoy stealing... I mean reclaiming that stuff." replied Sarah smugly.

"B-but what if he just stole it because he wants to sell it?!" exclaimed Celeste. Sarah sighed and scribbled it out with a pen. and instead wrote this:

_**The culprit enjoys robbing poor human girls of the tools necessary for writing**_

_** their mother hate mail.**_

Then, remembering Celeste was looking over her shoulder, she sighed and took out her pen again._**.**_

_**The culprit enjoys robbing poor human girls of the tools necessary for writing**_

_**their mother \/\/\/\ a kind birthday card.**_

Celeste sighed and looked over to her brother, hoping that maybe at the very least SOMEONE was acting a little more professional. She was disappointed to see him holding Booker's staff like it was a pony and yelling, "NEIGH NEIGH! GIDDY UP, HORSEY! STOMP OUT THOSE EVIL BUGS! HAHAHAAA... HA! Ha..." he noticed that Celeste was staring at him, her wings crossed.

"Haha... Ha... I mean... I was just imitating the pleasure of riding a member of the Equidae family thus to remind myself of how wonderful it is that I get to live in a museum where... I... You're not going to believe that are you?"

Celeste nodded her head no.

"But I was!... I'm sorry."

"You should be!" Exclaimed the frustrated little owl. Grabbing Sarah by the ear and her brother by the wing, she dragged them both to the doorway stomping angrily, and was extremely surprised when she bumped right into a big cushion of feathers. Pigeon feathers.

And you can only guess what pigeon THAT might be.

* * *

I know... It's Cher Ami, the famous French messenger pigeon! Hahaha! NAWT.


	6. Do Not Faint in the Presence of Insanity

GAH! *Looks over what was written* O_o I CAN'T BELIEVE I WROTE THIS! So embarrassed... So embarrassed... But I can't stop now, can I?! I'm at the point of no return... *Gloom* (; _ ;)

Oh and, I'm assuming Brewster is French. (Hehe...) It just fits him. And it reminds me of Gambit! :)

* * *

It has been a while since she had a flashback.

Usually they'd be so plentiful, and she'd have one at least twice a week as she peeked through her telescope, alone in the observatory. Sarah's visits were nice, and she wished they were longer, no matter how rash the girl could be. However, she dare not ask Sarah to stay, as that girl probably had more important things to do. She was convinced that she'd become a fishing master and expert bug catcher in addition to an astronomer and paleontologist. Plus, she had a crush on that annoying dog Biskit, who happened to be changing his interest (for the fifth time!) to flowers, and now she was dashing around watering them for him. She obviously cared more about that than she ever cared about her, a simple owl upstairs in a lonely observatory. Yes, if she did ask, she knew that Sarah would be happy to stay for a while, but during that while she was bound to go on pitying her and telling her that she should go do something rash in order to get more friends, like, for instance, going downstairs to buy coffee. (And look how well THAT turned out.)

Anyways, she wondered why she was having these wandering thoughts instead of a flashback as she lay on the sand. Wait a second, why was she lying on the sand? It felt really nice, as the sun was out today, but wasn't she just... solving a mystery? Wait, what? Going over the events that had recently happened in her mind, Celeste suddenly became very, very scared to open her eyes. Perhaps she could pretend she was dead? No, that never worked right, they might bury her. There was no other option. She slowly, but surely, opened her eyes and saw exactly whom she expected (and feared) right there.

"Oh, you're awake mon amie? Isn't it a little adventurous of you to be fainting twice in one day?" he said, with a sarcastic smile. So cute... Wait, what?!

Where was Sarah? Where was Blathers? Didn't she faint at the gate entrance? Why was she... Oh dear, she was on the beach, wasn't she... By Biskit and Sarah's flower patch... Alone with Brewster...

As if the feeling in the pit of her stomach wasn't bad enough, it got a lot worse.  
She was so going to kill Sarah for this.

But the scariest feeling was that she knew that later, she wasn't going to be killing her.  
She was either going to A. be crying insanely on her shoulder, or B. (Her preferred) hugging and thanking her...

* * *

Okay, if she wasn't brilliant enough, she was officially even more brilliant. If that was possible. Then again, anything was possible for her. That's what made her brilliant, that's what made her Sarah, duh. She had done it again. Not only was she a master fisher, bug catcher, paleontologist, astronomer, home decorator, gardener, and detective, but she was now officially an awesome matchmaker. Lying back on her cushion-y mushroom themed bed in her mushroom themed room, she thought about all the brilliant things she'd done that day, just to make herself feel more brilliant.

First of all, she was totally on the verge of solving this mystery. Sort of. She'd get back to that later.

Second of all, her awesomer achievement of the day, she had totally gotten Celeste to finally go on a date with Brewster... If you could call it a date, that is. But the way those two were always looking at each other, there was no way this was going to fail. Was there? Oop, here came another flashback, and the events in this one were just a few hours ago...

_"Wot! Oh dear... It seems she's fainted, I wonder why?" _  
_Sarah rolled her eyes as she wiggled her ear out of Celeste's wing. It was weird how her grip still stayed firm even when she was fainted._  
_ "You seriously do not know your sister, do you? Look who she happened to bump into." She pointed at the poor pigeon accusingly._

___"Wow... Mighty frail to faint twice in one day, hm?" muttered Brewster, who had a concerned look on his face. Sarah punched him on the wing playfully.____"Tell me about it. But isn't it weird that she just HAPPENED to faint with you as a witness BOTH TIMES? I wonder why?!" Blathers cut in.  
____"Wait, twice? When was the first?!" slamming her hand on his beak to keep him from answering that, Sarah yelled,_

___________"What? Did we say twice? That... what? Oh my gosh, look! It's... Pete!" She pointed wildly to the sky._

_"...Who?" The two birds asked in unison._

___Sarah sighed. "You guys really gotta' get out more. Anyways... Oh my gosh! Blathers! The... er... museum! It's not being watched!" exclaimed Sarah._

_Brewster replied, "Oh, don't worry about that, I locked up before I... OW!" Sarah elbowed him in the stomach before he could finish. _

_She whispered into his ear, (if birds have ears, that is,)"I'm rying-tay to elp-hay ou-yay!" Then, turning back to the oblivious owl,"Wha... What if the thief breaks in, Blathers? What'll you do then?" Sarah asked. He simply chuckled in response._

_"Wot, I could take 'em! Besides, all the precious exhibits have very advanced security systems... except for the bugs... If he wants those, he can take them, fine by me, wot!"_

_"WHAT IF HE LETS THE BUGS FREE THEN?! AND THEY GO CRAWLING AROUND ALL OVER THE MUSEUM!? AND ON THE PAINTINGS AND IN THE FISH TANKS?!" Blathers looked absolutely horrified. "WELL, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! GO THEN!"_

_"WOT!!" The rather insane owl went flapping off crazily for the museum. Sarah could only pray that nobody shot him down with a slingshot, but if they did she wouldn't blame them. In fact, she was kind of tempted to... No, no. Copper was already keeping an eye on her after shooting down a space alien, and being too lazy to actually help with finding the parts again, thus "littering" or whatever. This town was already filled with weeds..._

_What was she doing getting off track again?! She had to get this done while Celeste was unconscious... She'd planned this a million times before, she just couldn't find the right time to punch her in the face, because that made her feel kind of bad... So now was the perfect time!_

_Turning to the pigeon who was still marveling at how fast Blathers had taken off, Sarah smiled and motioned to the limp little pink owl still knocked out on the ground._

_"You know, er... Tortimer! Told me... that... when someone's unconscious, you should... er... bring them to the beach! Yes, yes that's right..."_

_

* * *

_OMG! Just looking at the number 1,000 makes me feel insane! I HAVE TO STOP NOW! IN THE MIDDLE OF A FLASHBACK! I think that's actually unhealthy...

NEVER MIND! I CARE NOT FOR MY MENTAL SAFETY! I'm... P-PERFECTLY... FF-F-FIIIIIIIINE! *Twitch twitch*

*Falls flat on floor*


	7. Tell Me About It, Stud

I MUST TRULY BE INSANE! Mufufufufufu... Now is the perfect time for attack, Mr. DuckyFern...

Anyways, I know the last one ended in a flashback, but dees one weel start not een da flashbahk, baht weed a DIFFERENT FLASHBAHK!! Sorta. But er... Ya. And sorry for the random accent. I do that too much. GARR! I'M GETTING TIRED OF ITALICS! I actually think you can infer what er... I did to Celeste... So you do that. Ya. And I'll write. There we go. Now we're both doing work.

* * *

He really shouldn't have ever given this girl coffee.  
He was sure that was when she first went insane.

He remembered the first time she stepped down those fateful stairs. She was still er... normal, at least a little bit...  
Making himself feel even more nostalgic, he reminisced on the first time and thought to be last time Celeste came down those steps... He wished she hadn't changed so much.

_"Hehe... Oh, dear. Is this the basement? My bad I'll just..."_

_"Nonono! No... This is where my coffee shop is going to be, please, come in." He usually wasn't this talkative, especially with someone who had such a bad impression of him..._

_"Oh, thank you, but I... don't really drink coffee."she smiled. But despite her words, he saw her feet slowly stepping back down the stairs.  
"Really... I'll... I'll even give you some sugar, if you'd like." Wow, he hadn't gone as far to offer sugar since... Well... Ever.  
"Oh... Oh I don't have any money and coffee sorta' makes me... Well..."  
"No, no. It's okay. This one's on the house. I'll add some milk, pigeon milk..."  
__She smiled."I can't really say no to that, can I?" She plop plop plopped down the rest of the steps and took a seat on one of barstools. "This pigeon milk... Isn't that er... like um... See, I looked it up in an encyclopedia quite a time ago and it's sorta..."_

___"Oh! Er... You know the... secret?!" She could almost see a wave of shock above his head. _

___"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it a..."_

___"NOBODY HEARS! EVER!" he screamed in her face. Realizing how out of character that was, he settled back behind the counter and muttered, "He... Here's your coffee."  
"Uh... O-ookay... Shouldn't I wait for it to cool just a...?"  
____"NO!" commanded the pigeon, who was feeling more stressed the minute._

_______"Ye-y-yessir..."Upon taking a sip, she was sure she heard fancy scale of harp music, then what sounded like a piano, doodoodadeedoo ... Out of nowhere, someone said, _

___"Sweet and smooth! This must be none other than the renowned pigeon milk!" _

___"WTF! Bu-bu-da.. Wah?! Wait, wait, wait, WHOAAA. WHOA." the befuddled little owl spattered, turning in her seat. Brewster laughed, as his tension melted away. First time customer's reactions never got old. _

___"You'll get used to it..." he grinned._

_The minute bird pulled out her bow and redid her feathers, which were still long at the back. "You always treat your customers like this?"  
He looked away"Well, there was this other girl I knew..."  
She laughed, as if they'd been long lost pals. She leaned over the counter and with a sly grin whispered, jokingly, "Tell me about it..." She giggled."Stud."_

_

* * *

_

He missed that giggle. Why did she get rid of it... Why was she who she was? Uptight and unwilling to joke with anyone but her closest friends, and he was sure she didn't really have any excluding Sarah... What made her like this? The answer was ringing so clearly in his head, but he couldn't bring himself to say it, think of it, admit it. Looking at Celeste's sleeping face on the sand, he knew what he had to do.

He had broken her. Now he was going to fix it.

For a moment, Sarah didn't seem so insane after all.

* * *

PAHAHAA! Let's GO WITH THAT!

I've been watching a lot of Grease stuff lately, and though that was really out of character for Celeste, I guess my imagination ran a little too wild.

OH WELL! LET'S GO WITH IT!\

Go Greased Lightnin' you're burning up the quarter mile! GREASED LIGHTNIN', GO GREASED LIGHTNIN'! Go Greased Lightnin' you're coastin' through the heat lap trial! GREASED LIGHTNIN', GO GREASED LIGHTNIN'! You're Supreme! UH-HUH! Chicks'll scream! UH HUH! For Greased Lightnin'! Go go, go go go go go go go go!


	8. They're Back, For Now

ERRR! I CAN'T GET FOCUSED!

AND I AM SOOO TIRED OF ITALICS!

* * *

Celeste awoke.  
She opened her eyes ever so slightly.

She was in the arms of Brewster.

Her first impulse was to jump, shriek, and flee. But something held her, something she wished she could thank for a very long time afterwards. She closed her eyes up, slowed her breathing, and decided to stick around. MEANWHILE!

BREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTE

Sarah sat bored in her house. She had a very good view of the beach from her attic, as her house was large and Nook once chopped down all the trees in front of her house while he was drunk the other day. Watching as Brewster held her friend, she was almost dying of cute giggles. When all of a sudden, she saw the unmistakable twinkle of Celeste's eyes for a split second.

_Oh no, here comes the jump, shriek, and possibly the flee... _she thought groaning. Show's over. She was hoping that the little owl'd stay knocked out until deep night, and then she'd be forced to walk home with Brewster, going over the romantic bridge in the full moonlight... But no, the idiot birdbrain had to wake up early, didn't she?

Suddenly, she realized, Brewster hadn't noticed! And there was a refreshing lack of shrieks and flees. Was Celeste still... no, the twinkle of her eyes couldn't be mistaken... Which means she's...

_PWWWWWWN! _thought Sarah, gaping. _The lil' owl's finally realized what she really wants! _However, she couldn't help but feel a little bad. Turning to the big Mother Bear sitting in the corner of her room, she said,

"You've got motherly intuition and bear instincts and stuff. You think it'd be the right thing to got let Brewster know she's conscious?"

The bear didn't reply.

"I agree!" She pushed her easy chair and a small mushroom lamp to the window, surprised at how the mushroom lamp and the easy chair both took the exact same amount of rigorous effort... That had started ever since she moved there... Luropo was weird like that...

BREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTE

"Those were the days, weren't they, dear?" whispered Brewster as he held Celeste in his arms.

Sand was all over her wings. Leaning against a tree that had been spared by Nook's chopping frenzy, Brewster carefully stroked her feathers to get the grit out. He smiled.

"How old were you? Thirteen? No, no, no... You were 15 going on 16. I came to your party... That's where it started, huh..." Celeste almost gasped.

_So he really did know my age back then, huh?_

Oh, but his rambling was not finished. With a nostalgic grin, he mumbled. "... You were blood red and you hated the color pink... Your bow, wasn't it black?" He fiddled with her bow and then with her unusual diamond harlequin patterned shirt. "This was too..."

_So you still remember, huh?_

"You came down everyday... You never drank coffee, but I gave you sugar and pigeon milk... On Saturdays, but only when there were no one other than you, me, and K. K.... We... Didn't we used to..." He looked up at the rising full moon. The stars were bright that day. Looking back down at Celeste's calm face, he sighed.

"Didn't we used to dance..." It was said more like an unfinished sentence than a question.

"But then... There was that... Wi-with... Pelly... And..." He looked away.

"I miss you Celeste."

Celeste might've leaped up and hugged him, tears in her eyes, right then, but she held herself back. She kept listening.

"Oh, what am I doing talking to myself. I'm one insane birdbrain!" he groaned and took a deep, exhausted sigh. Celeste almost giggled at his cute European accent... It used to give her the chills, didn't it?  
"Real insane, huh lil' birdy? Real insane, because we're over, and I made it that way, didn't I...?" Hearing him say that... Celeste was really going to start bawling like a baby just then, until she found herself shocked. Her feathers were slightly moist...

That meant that Brewster...

No, Brewster? The untouchable? The unbreakable? The invincible? The emotionless, blank-faced, calm, cool, collected Brewster... c-cr-crying?

BREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTE

Sarah was thinking the same thing from her window. Excitedly, she broke out the popcorn.

"Mama bear, this is WAAAAAAY better than Gilmore Girls!" she cheered. The bear started to slump.  
"Well... I know you're a hardcore Rory-fan, but I always thought it was a little unrealistic and..."

The bear fell flat on the ground.

"OKAY, DON'T NEED TO GET ALL EMO ABOUT IT! Here, you can watch too!" Sarah pushed the bear to the window (once again putting in a lot more effort than it should have taken; it was a stuffed animal, after all...) and sat back down.

"But I'm not sharing the popcorn, OKAIII?"

BREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTE

Celeste abruptly started to "wake up" not because... because Brewster was... was crying, especially over her... them... because Brewster doesn't cry, that would be impossible. But you know, she ought to wake up to make sure he doesn't start, not that he would... But there might be a slight .001% possibility, and it's better safe than sorry...

"Oh..." Brewster mumbled. Celeste would have moaned at the disappointment in his voice. The kind pigeon gently placed the fragile owlette on the caressing sand. "There you go..."

Celeste, who was very good at acting asleep because she had to be awake all day when she was SUPPOSED to be asleep, mumbled and groaned, stretched her wings, and yawned.

"Oh... Oh! H-he-hello Brewster!" smiled Celeste. Peculiar music echoed from town hall. (Sarah made it, of course...)

"Look, it's midnight." laughed Brewster. "Nice timing, cutie." The pigeon almost winced, waiting for the "HOOTIE-TOOT! BREWSTER, I TOLD YOU NOT TO BE GOING ON ABOUT... Bla bla bla bla bla." She really was that man's sister... However, there was a refreshing lack of embarrassed arguing. Instead, all Celeste said was,

"Hey, Brewster?"  
"Yes... Cutie-pie?" Brewster tried, thinking that surely she'd say something this time...

"I'm sorry if I was ever... a little harsh, you know what I'm saying?" Brewster looked at _her_ in shock.

"Oh... Well, you never have... Baby." Wait for it... wait for it...

Celeste giggled. GIGGLED. SHE, CELESTE OWLETTE, GIGGLED AT BREWSTER. Sarah could've sworn that even Mama Bear was gaping.  
"You're funny, Brewster. Uh... It's getting dark. Walk me home?"

Brewster was in utter disbelief.  
"Uh... Uh, sure lil' birdy." There's no WAY he could even THINK of surviving this one... Because surely she wouldn't... Let him get away with that ol' one... No....

"Oh, that's so nice of you... Haha! I'm not sleepy at all, but you must be awful tired, especially after standing around watching over me like that."  
"I just... I just found you like this... Just... Just now... I mean, I wasn't like, watching you sleep for an hour because... because that would be weird...

They started to walk toward the river in the moonlight, but stopped when they heard a loud shriek:

"YESSSS! YEEEEEEEEESSSS! I AM SOOOO AN AWESOME MATCHMAKER!"

Though they both knew who it was, they simply giggled.  
"Tom's been taking to whiskey again..." groaned Brewster, jokingly.

"Maybe so, but whoever it was, they're definitely drunk." Celeste said with a wink.

BREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTEBREWESTE

"I'm awesome, aren't I?" Sarah asked Mama Bear.  
"Yes, yes I am. Awesome. AWESOME. Their cute little children will thank me one day."

The mama bear stayed silent.

"What, you don't believe me? Look." She got out of the way and pushed Mama Bear where she was just sitting. (Once again breaking sweat for no reason at all.)

And well, I think the bear was pretty convinced. Because as they watched, when the two lovebirds got to the middle of the bridge, Celeste, without the other noticing, looked up at the sky and back at Sarah's house, and Brewster at Sarah's house then at the sky.

They both mouthed a smiling "Thank you."

* * *

OKAY! THAT'S LIKE, 80% OF THE MUSHY GUSHY NESS! ENJOY WHILE IT LASTS! 1,000 WORDS! GO RUN SCREAMING!


	9. Blathers is Such an Epic Otaku

BLA! Let's get some of this mystery over with, kay? Wait a sec, that's not a writer's attitude! I'm not in a good mood... BUT I MUST BE! UNLOCK MY HEART! CHARACTER TRANSFORMATION: AMULET SPADE! NEGATIVE HEART—LOCK ON! OPEN HEART!**

Not that it is nor does it need to be a particularly happy story, but...  
Ugh. T-T

* * *

Celeste woke up suddenly, her feathers slightly damp with sweat and with a slightly sticky and sour taste in her mouth.

"What... a weird dream..." she mumbled. "Like Brewster still misses me... He's probably dating some city pigeon over the Internet, that idiot..."

I always find myself not being able to tell if a distant memory really happened or if it were a dream, especially if it is a particularly peculiar thing and it happened late at night. Like, perhaps, me asking a past-love who I have been trying to dreadfully avoid for several years due to reminders of my past life even though he lives two floors below me and still somehow misses me and is hopeful that I too miss him, to walk me home at night with a full moon in the sky, happily accepting his formerly unacceptable comments on how cute I am.

Now, that was an especially peculiar and long sentence, filled with many things that are peculiar happenings. And thus, if you wake up with this peculiar, late night, distant memory swimming around in your head, it is only natural you'd assume it to be a dream. As a result, don't think of Celeste as a scatterbrained, forgetful, senile birdbrain, even if she tends to be as such at times. (No offense, dear...)

Hopping off her perch, she laughed at herself, though she was not very happy about her statement. "Like I'm still anything special to that... vermin..." Of course she didn't mean it, but convinced herself that she did. Why wouldn't she? Why would she still care about what had been...? Keyword: been.

Looking around the room, she felt as though there was a missing presence. A "super awesome and fancy astronomical tely-scope," as Sarah called it, took up a lot of space, and with it gone the small room looked ominously spacey. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she read the note for about the 30th time, shivering in its mystery.

_Don't be fooled by patterns, little red owl._

_Smirking fowl bird, hiding its past, has nothing but his life to take._

_Con-master will be conned, a sneaky orange fox._

_Raccoon, fat and brown, I am the better bandit._

_Artsy, smart brown owl, be finally outsmarted._

_Blue and brown hedgehogs, too kind to resist._

_Bulldog so drowsy, I take advantage of you._

_I have started with you, little red owl._

She had gone to sleep at 3:00AM, and now it was 5:00AM, right on time to fetch some breakfast. (No, she doesn't get much sleep, and she sleeps at the wrong times for a nocturnal animal at that.) Trotting downstairs, where Blathers was already starting to get slightly drowsy as dawn approached, she attempted to talk to her brother. "Blathers? Blathers? I'm going to go run some errands, okay? First get you some peaches, then I'll ask Sarah to fish us up something for dinner, and then I'll see if Mabel or Sable'll wash my bow 'kay? You want me to get them to wash yours? It's gotten so dirty with fossil dirt and such; you know how Sarah always runs over and gives 'em to ya' straight from the ground. I wonder if you'd be courteous enough to lend me a few bells? And have you seen my extra bow anywhere? I'd look so empty without it..." Realizing _she_ was blathering, and Blathers looked glassy-eyed and unfocused, she shook her head. He was sooooo not the older brother.

"ZAWK! Wot! Oh, dreadful sorry Celeste!" Blathers blurted, suddenly snapped out of his drowsy thoughts. "Yes, yes, go run your errands, but I'm afraid I can't release you my bow tie. I take so much pride in it; and I wouldn't dare allow a soul to see me in its absence!" he remarked, informatively, pointer-feather in air. "Wot, did you know that its green color evokes nature, good health, victory, and love, which is interesting because..."

"Are you sure you'll be okay? Like, with that thief and all. There hasn't been a single item in the lost&found for days now, as told by Sarah, and the telescope certainly hasn't returned." Celeste said, her voice filled with concern, as she tightened her brother's pride-filled bow tie, obviously uninterested in his knowledge on color symbolism.

"Wot! Why, of course, wot, that thief doesn't stand a chance against me!" he grinned, striking a Haruhi Suzumiya dance pose as in Hare Hare Yukai*, expecting Celeste to support him.

With an eyebrow raised, Celeste stared at him expectantly. "Hootie-toot, Blathers! Have you been watching too much anime?"

Blathers dropped his pose and looked at the ground. "A-ab-absolutely NOT, wot! I suppose it depends on what your definition of 'too much' would be, but I digress..."  
Celeste sighed. "Cool story, bro." she muttered sarcastically. "By the way, red symbolizes love, and green also symbolizes fate. Other than that you were right on spot." She turned to leave when, to her surprise, Blathers mumbled,

"How interesting, wot, you're red, and one could say Brewster is a shade of gree—AIYEEEH!" Celeste gave him a kick in the shin and stomped off and out of the museum, leaving Blathers shaking his head.

He chuckled. "Celeste, you're smarter than me in most things, no doubt, but you fail to realize some of the most obvious things."

* * *

*From the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Look up "Hare Hare Yukai Dance Pose" Imagine Celeste, Brewster, Blathers, Sarah, and Tom Nook doing that.  
NOW IMAGINE DANCING!  
I'm sorry if I've traumatized any of you.  
**Shugo Chara.

* * *

Because she was in a violent furor over her brother's teasing, she didn't noticed until she had calmed down a bit that every single one of the fruit trees in the town were bare.

No pears, cherries, oranges, apples, peaches, or coconuts. Even the money tree that Sarah had bragged about finally being able to grow was literally, er, fruitless. If money's considered a fruit.

This was peculiar, as though Sarah sells a lot of the town's fruit to Tom Nook (who could just go out and pick it himself—it is rumored he pities her) she never is so systematical or productive to cover all of them within 3 days, so there is always enough for the rest of the town to eat. (Not that she ever saw any of the villagers taking the fruit... Which is weird, because they're always talking about cooking things like spaghetti and peach tarts while Tom Nook sells no food.)

Hesitating for a moment, Celeste decided to take flight. As she gained altitude, happy to feel the cool morning air rushing through all of her feathers, giving her a thrill of exuberance for the first time in a long time, she couldn't help but laugh. From above she could clearly see that not only was Lucy up already, but Bill had planted new flowers, the cedar saplings Sarah had boasted about had grown to adulthood and indeed, every tree in the town of Luropo was void of fruit. "Weird..." she mumbled, eyebrows furrowed.

Almost convincing herself to toss the errands and fly around for the rest of the day—the wind in her face and the freedom to be alone in the skies of Luropo almost held her—she descended a short while away from Able Sisters. "What a silly idea..."she murmured, with a giggle. "I'd have all the eyes of the town on me, and maybe a few well aimed stones from a slingshot lodged into my wings too—they all have the idea that something good comes out of everything you shoot out of the sky; hootie-toot!"

Celeste, carefully trying to be as quiet as possible since majority of the town wasn't awake yet, rapped on the lighted window. "Yoo-hoo? You girls a bit too busy to help me out?"

The window hastily opened up to reveal the normally cheerful and hospitable Mabel with a dark look of grim on her face. "Darling, oh, the most frightening thing has just occurred!"

"I KNEW IT!" retorted Sarah, suddenly appearing beside Celeste.  
"Hootie-toot! Where did you come from, indeed!" Mabel disappeared for a second to unlock the door for the two of her dear friends.  
Sarah's face took on an expression of deep contemplation. "Some simpletons say I came from my mom, Celeste dear, and others remark that my origin lies in Venus. However, I daresay that I may be of seahorse or Martian descent, and thus I believe I came to be when that space shuttle landed on Neptune with an aquarium of..."  
"Hootie-toot! We never went to Neptune!" Celeste interrupted.  
"Well of course! Why would they let a Pekoponian* owl and a proud citizen of Keron go to Neptune together? It's so funny how ignorant you are, you poor, poor, uneducated owl!" she smiled, patting the poor bird on the back, who fought to keep her patience.  
"We ought to ban anime in Luropo... This is what it does to people..." Celeste sighed, shaking her head.

By now Mabel had let them in, and suddenly awakening from their argument, the two gasped. The room was nothing but its drearily colored boards, few windows and patterned walls. The decorative quilt, the desks, the display mats, the mannequins, the cash register, the tape measure, the boxes, the rolls of patterns, the books, the pin cushion and its pins, the umbrellas, the hats, the glasses, the clothes (obviously), the cute little clock, even the sewing machine—

"And the pictures... Gone!" cried Sable, who they almost didn't even notice sitting in her former working corner. "Gone, gone! N-n-now we have a-ab-absolutely nothing! He... or she... whatever, h-h-he didn't even have... didn't even have, h-have the decency to leave us... leave us our own parents! Nothing! NOTHING!" The sight of her on her knees with truly nothing but the apron upon her back in the barren, desolate room—it tore the three onlookers to pieces. Mabel walked over, unable to let her younger sister start crying, genially said,

"We... We have each other, Sable." with a slight smile, meant to cheer her up. Sable at first didn't seem to hear her, and then she suddenly rose and stood face to face with her sister, their noses almost touching.

"We had each other when the shop was going out of business. We had each other... when... when Mom and Dad _died! _Mabel, they _died_! I'm not a little kid anymore, I get it, they're dead, dead, dead, _DEAD_!"

You'd think that not a single soul in the room was without tears in their eyes at that moment, but the fragile, timid Sable hadn't cried a tear. Even Sarah found herself in shock of the quiet Sable's sudden audacity. After a slight awkward pause, Sable turned away from Mabel and towards to the wall, refusing to look at us.

"We... only sorta' had each other when... when Labelle walked out on us. Now you say all we have is each other. Again! Why should we keep trying and trying and working and working when the world is just going to keep taking things away from us? Are we never gonna' get... are we never gonna' get anything out of life! Am I ever going to be happy, Mabel? Does happiness even exist? Because I surely haven't seen any of it in my time, and I don't think I ever will!" The young hedgehog beat her fist upon the wall.

In an attempt to calm her down, Celeste came over and put her wing on the girl's shoulder. "Hun, Mabel was just trying to help, and..."

"NO! You don't get it! None of you get it!" Sable suddenly whipped around and slapped Celeste across the face. The clear sound echoed through the room: **PAP...**PAP...pap... and suddenly, Sable blinked, and, abruptly realizing her brazen behavior, covered her mouth. The tears suddenly flooded her eyes and she was down on her knees.

"I...I'm so sorry, Celeste, dear. Ohh, I'm so sorry... So sorry...!" Celeste seemed unaware of the red mark where Sable had struck her as she held the poor hedgehog in her wings.

"It's okay, hun. Now you stop your tears; You don't want Sarah to start fishing in here—that ridiculous Biskit convinced her to fish in every body of water she came across, and before you know it villagers were complaining that she was trying to catch the fish in the aquarium room."

Under normal circumstances, nobody would have laughed at such a dumb joke, but they all seemed to be desperate for a way to break the tension. However, Sarah remained silent. "Sarah?" questioned a concerned Mabel.

"Doctor." she uttered, her face now filled with serious contemplation that was no longer about seahorses. She turned her gaze directly at Celeste, noting that she was referring to her.  
"Um, yes?"  
"I do believe, Doctor Watson, that under the current circumstances it is evidently very, very imperative that we solve this case." though they were tempted to giggle, Sarah had a rather adamant look on her face. Celeste smiled.  
"Indeed, though I cannot conceive anything which will cover the facts, Holmes."  
Turning to the two sisters, Sarah sat cross-legged on the floor and said, "I wonder if you will be willing to recall what took place here that resulted in the absence of all that was under your possession."

Putting her arm around her sister, Mabel smiled. "Why of course, Master Sherlock." Almost sad to see her brief smile fade, Holmes and Dr. Watson listened intently as Ms. Mabel the Hedgehog gained a distant look and began to state what had gone on.  
"It was... so fast..."

* * *

Okay, I have this dreadful feeling that I've been rambling on and on, so I'm just gonna' stop here and let you all... rest your... eyes? -_-" I haven't been in a good mood lately, as I've said. So I guess I had to write a very moody bit. =_=

BTW, I've been reading Sherlock Holmes-wonderful, wonderful books. Really, you should read it, it's AWESOME. All of them are. Sir Conan Doyle ftw. Or you could read some fanfictions about 'em, since you're here reading this and not a book. ;]

Next chapter soon enough. ^—^

*Keroro Gunso, people. Get with it-I'm an anime otaku. (Blathers is a bigger one, though...)


	10. WTF?

SCHOOL WILL KILL ME SOON ENOUGH.  
I love you all...  
May I hopefully finish this story before it pulls me under.

* * *

Sable:

Mabel. The sane one. The kind one. The one who actually talks. The_ perfect _one. Somehow she got all the good and perfect and nice genes. And at least Labelle was pretty.

What the frik' had happened to _her?  
_  
No no, she shouldn't be saying that. With her kind of social skills, Sable could never hold up the shop and she knew it. Labelle had offered Mabel a job with better pay than she got working with her sister, but Mabel insisted, "We're a team. I could never leave you."

Or maybe it's because Mabel let Labelle have the pride in knowing she worked for her. Yeah, that was probably it.

Looking from her blue sister's sleeping face to the clock on the wall, Sable groaned quietly. 4:00AM? How much sleep had she gotten? No matter, she'd just fetch a cup of coffee from the Roost after she finished sewing that gingham blouse and filled out and mailed that order for striped green patterns and dye that pair of glasses green and fixed that hole in Mabel's apron and try to get the sewing machine to stop making that ugly noise and... "Oh, dear Lord, I have so much to do..." Sable muttered under her voice.

Oh, she'd just ask Tom to get it for her...

Wait... What? Did she just think what she just thought she thunk? And... and thunk isn't a word!  
Well, it's not like it bothered him... She wouldn't dare pester anyone else in all of Luropo, she realized. Whenever Sable said that she was hungry a little too loudly, Tom Nook would appear a few minutes later with a peach. And lately, as Mabel teasingly pointed out, she'd been saying that she was hungry a little too loudly.

Sure, it made her feel rather bad, and she'd always say something like, "Oh, no, I'm fine, Tom," "You didn't have to go through the trouble, Tom," "You can't leave your nephews to run the store alone, Tom, run along..." it really made her blush like a tomato. And Tom always looked delighted when she muttered a quick, "Thank you..."

No. She wasn't going to bother poor Tom; he just liked to be a good neighbor and she wasn't going to take advatage of that. Rushing down the stairs to get to her work, she glanced at the window that happened to look out at Nookington's.

...

Mabel was probably stuffy under her quilt.

She could open the window for her.

Before she could talk herself out of it, the morning breeze was carrying the scent of dew through her spiny fur, waking her up.  
She was ashamed to feel her disappointment when she saw that Nook wasn't there. Nor was he even awake yet.  
And it was a good thing too, because she realized she hadn't put her apron on yet. Giving herself a face-palm that would make even Kyon complain, she turned from the window and was about to start up the stairs when a warm current rushed just short of her ear, seeming to move so fast that the carpet under her feet grew hot and her spines stiffened. Sable swerved and shrieked. The contents of the store before her were disappearing like letters on a computer screen while holding down the Backspace key.

"What the...!"

She, with super hedgehog speed that may have come by animal instinct, adrenaline, or luck, rolled into a signature hedgehog ball, spines pointing out. A hedgehog's spines aren't like porcupine quills, contrary to popular belief. She couldn't make them come out unless under extreme stress or illness, let alone shoot them. But this stress was extreme enough for her.

Suddenly a force unlike any other whammed her into the wall. As hard and furiously hot as a clothing iron, Sable screamed from the impact and the searing pain she now felt on her side. Several of her spines lodged into... whatever, as she felt them rip from her skin.

And then it was gone.

Just gone, the pink curtains Mabel had sewn last Christmas swaying in the morning breeze.

Still in utter shock and not understanding what the flip had just happened, she seemed to go into autopilot as she trotted up the stairs to get an ice pack for the first-degree burn on her back where she had just been slammed into. No, not slammed, _mauled. _Halfway up the stairs she ran down and closed the window, fixing the curtains. She did not look at the store room behind her.

She wasn't sure what she was going to see, but she didn't want to see it.

"Saaaaay-ble, what was that noiii- ohhhhhhmigosh, WHAT the frik' happened to you!" Mabel's drowsiness and anger for being woken up at 4:00AM dissolved when she saw the large bruise on her sister's left abdomen. It was starting to turn an ugly reddish-black on Sable's pink skin, bare of any fur. A piece of gauze was soaking up the little blood on the wound, as it was somewhat cauterized by the extreme heat of whatever burned her.

"Well, don't just stand there. Fetch me an ice pack and I'll tell you WHAT the frik' happened to me, if only I got it myself." Mabel, always impressed by how calm Sable always was, even when trying to twist the right way to dress a pretty nasty looking wound on her back on their cold, bathroom floor, quickly obeyed and hobbled down the stairs.

_Whoa._

_Double take.  
Triple take._

Have you ever moved a large piece of furniture, like a couch or a dinosaur skeleton, out of a room in your house after it has been there for a while? You get that weird feeling when you look at the room, like it's too spacious, or too empty, and maybe you should put something there to fill that space or else it will seriously bother you until you get used to it. Even when your roommate moves something small, like a houseplant, you can tell as soon as you walk in that something's missing.

Well, that was how it felt for Mabel, except times 1,300.

The store was clean nothing but floor and walls.

_Quadruple take._

Not knowing what else to do, Mabel screamed. "SAAAAAAAABLE!"  
For the fourth, no, fifth time that day, Sable stumbled down those steps to where her sister kneeled, dizzy with incomprehension and shock. She felt the wind knocked out of her when they walked into the store room hand in hand, as if with silent communication.

She almost keeled over when she saw the all too bare wall where her parents pictures once hung. She had told Mabel not to hang them there; they'd get too much dust on them, customers would ask who they were, she didn't want one to fall and crack. But she had insisted, they would want to be there, watching over us, working with us. They always loved working, all of them, even Labelle before she discovered the joys of makeup, prissiness, and being stuck-up to the sisters you're way-too-good for.

_Quintuple take._

That was where Sarah and Celeste found here, huddled in her sewing corner that now had nothing to sew nor anything to sew with, mourning what felt like the death of those who were already dead, feeling dead herself, and wondering herself: What had happened to the store, to them, to their parents?

_What the frik' had happened to her?_


End file.
